While some new types of jobs are emerging, it is a myth
that in developed societies such as Canada secure,
adequately paid employment is available for all.
Therefore the risks of fragile work should be socialised
rather than being borne increasingly by the
individual.

Canadian workers are underpaid and
underemployed, says a report released yesterday by
Ryerson Polytechnic University. The study, conducted by the
Ryerson Social Reporting Network, observes that 52% of Canadians
are paid less that $15 an hour, and that 45% of the
country's workforce is engaged in "flexible" work, with
people unable to find full-time or permanent jobs... The Ryerson
study estimates that as many as 20.3% of Canadians are
underemployed or otherwise lack employment
security and an adequate level of wages.

James Cudmore,

The National Post (June 3,1999)

Politicians praise training together with some type
of on-the-job experience as the ultimate cure for
unemployment and poverty.
Bureaucratic insiders laughingly call this the
"field of dreams" solutions – train the people and the jobs
will come! Training may be the key in the short term for
matching suitable people and some types of jobs, such
as those that involve the latest high-tech skills or hands-on
personal service. But there is some suspicion, even among
those responsible for designing and
implementing each new round of skills
training, that over the longer term the hottest job market
to emerge may be for job trainers.
&nbsp

It is a violation of human rights to stigmatize and
penalize people who cannot find enough paid work to support
themselves and their families, and to participate fully in
community life.

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states: Everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for
the health and well-being of himself and of his family,
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and
necessary social services, and the right to security in the
event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control.

There is no real moral or socially viable alternative to
some form of UBI if society cannot ensure secure, adequately
paid jobs for all who want them.

If a few people withdraw from the competition for jobs,
this will benefit rather than damage society, since there are not
enough jobs to go around anyway. A UBI would make this
possible.

For people with no post secondary education or
training, the prospects for earning an adequate living
are especially bleak. A UBI would reduce the
discrimination experienced by those with low
academic aptitude.

Since we cannot continue growth that degrades the
environment, employment should no longer be
tied mainly to production for the market. A UBI is needed to
prevent a win-lose polarization of society and avoid creating a
permanent underclass during this fundamental transition.

"Economic democracy" requires that all citizens have
sufficient resources to make uncoerced economic
decisions. This requires a UBI so people can turn down undesired
jobs.

A UBI facilitates the growth of different kinds of
useful non-market work and of productive time for personal
development; both activities complement paid work in the era
of the flexible workforce. The fact that more people will choose
to study or pursue idealistic or artistic endeavours will benefit
society in the long run.

A UBI maintains consumer demand in the face of
unemployment, part-time employment and inadequate
wages.

A UBI substantially reduces transaction costs and
increases transparency by allowing most of the complex
and costly welfare bureaucracy to be dismantled.

The earth and its resources (as well as such achievements of humanity as
the wheel, the mother tongue, the decimal system, etc., which have made
so much wealth creation possible) are the common heritage of all
mankind. Therefore everyone has a right to a share in this heritage
in the form of a UBI, financed from the wealth created by those who have
made use of these resources.

An UBI is best adapted to an economy in which
knowledge has become the main productive force.

Canada needs a UBI because no social responses
currently under serious discussion in Canada are fully
adequate to deal with long-term structural
unemployment, underemployment and the private sector's
insistent demand for a flexible workforce.

THE TAX SYSTEM: The principle of a progressive tax system
holds that the level of taxation should be related to the ability
to pay. In 1998 the average Canadian family paid total federal
and provincial tax of $12,490 or 20.1% of its income. If our tax
system was progressive in practice a family with income over
$300,000 would pay more than 20.1%. In fact, families with income
in excess of $300,000 paid, on average, 14.4%, or 5.7% less than
the average family. Even with a flat (i.e. non-progressive)
tax this amounts to a handout of $17,100 per family (i.e. 5.7% of
$300,000).

FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING: In 1984 Statistics Canada found
that the richest 20% of Canadians held 75% of the nation's
financial wealth (stocks, bonds, etc.). A more recent survey
found that the richest 1% now hold 40%. Let's take 75% as a
reasonable current estimate of the financial wealth held by the
richest 10% of Canadians. As of 1999 Canada's chartered (i.e.
private) banks have created – out of thin air please note – about
95% of our money supply
($557 billion) as debt, otherwise known
as bank credit. The interest on this debt is at least 6% every
year. If we assume that those banks are 75% owned by the richest
10% of Canadians, it follows that our government, by
allowing privately owned banks to create most of our money
supply under the fractional reserve system of banking (see
`Fractional Reserve Banking or Usury' under General
Economic Data), paid or "handed out" $25 billion to
well-to-do Canadians (6% of 75% of $557 billion). Although the
banking class would never admit it, this amounts to a $8,300 ($25
billion divided by 3 million well-to-do Canadians) "handout" for
every man, woman and child in the richest 10% of the
population.
It should be understood that
the public debt (federal,
provincial, and municipal) is overwhelmingly owned by
wealthy individuals, both Canadian and non-Canadian. The interest
paid ($77 billion in 1998) on this public debt, not to mention
the interest paid (?) on private debt is the consequence of
having a debt economy, i.e. a system by which private corporations called
banks create about 95 percent of
our money supply in the form of interest-bearing bank credit.
Now, allowing banks to create a nation's money supply is neither
an economic necessity nor an enlightened social policy. Could we
not then consider those debt payments as a disguised "handout," a
sort of tribute paid to the financial elite that has been built
into the economic organization of modern societies so skillfully
that it is rarely detected, much less questioned? We think
that you can, in which case the handout in question amounts to
(using our earlier assumptions) $57.75 billion (75% of $77
billion), or $19,250 ($57.75 billion divided by 3 million well-to-do
Canadians) for every man, woman and child in the richest 10% of
the population. That's quite an impressive handout. Of course
there's private debt too, but we won't belabour the
point.

What Can You Do?

If you find the case we have made for a UBI persuasive,
you can indicate below (by clicking only one of four buttons) whether you would be
prepared to take some positive action to advance the cause of a
UBI. Please click the button that corresponds to your
level of enthusiasm and resources.

Check the Button that Corresponds
to Your Level of Commitment

Level 1: I am convinced of the justice and wisdom of a
UBI and I extend my moral support and best wishes to those who
are engaged in the effort to make a UBI a reality in Canada and
abroad.

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Level 2: In addition to the above I will print out a
dozen handouts (print out six pages of the printed-one-side
version, or three pages of the printed-both-sides version) and
distribute them. One easy way of distributing them is
to place them under the windshield wipers of cars parked on
a street or in a parking lot. However, it is far preferable to post them
in TTC shelters or on other public property where they are likely to attract
the attention of those who are seriously interested. It's
important always to keep in mind that one's audience is that small fraction
of the population capable of understanding the issue, and sufficiently motivated
to take a position. The great majority of people will follow those among their
relatives or friends that fall into this category.

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Level 3: In addition to the above I will print out
some of the arguments and economic data provided here and ask two people
I know to read the material and give me their reactions.
(Don't try to convince anyone against their will. Remember
that a new idea is often resisted for no other reason than that
it is unfamiliar; also that a powerful idea communicates some of
its power even to the person who contradicts it.) I will
challenge anyone convinced of the justice and wisdom of a
UBI to repeat the process with two people in their turn.

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Level 4: In addition to the above I will write a
letter (see
example letter) indicating my support for a UBI,
enclose any material from this web site that seems appropriate, and send it to
four members of government, the Prime Minister, my federal MP, the Premier
of my province, and my provincial MPP.

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